How long would it take you, on average, to get your home company ready?

[Closeacademy]

I posted 15 min. But I do child care so it is always ready for people to stop by. :001_smile:

[katemary63]

It takes me most of a day to both tidy and cook for company. Cooking does take time...and makes a mess...so maybe I'd do better if we ordered take out.

 

We are clutter bugs. Piles of books, mail, school stuff, shoes, assorted dishware, and garden supplies make nests near where ever I plop myself. It takes a while to sort the 'herd' and return every thing to it's rightful corral.

 

After that, I clean the kitchen counters, floors, and tables. Then the bathrooms. We close (and lock if necessary!) any doors we don't want opened.

 

I applaud those of you who pick up and tidy up daily. My life and home would be much cleaner and prettier if I did the same. There are just so many other really cool, fun things to do, though......

 

:iagree:This is me and our house. I was begining to think I was the only one who's house got messy!

 

When you say "for company" it means that I have decided to invite someone over for dinner. That means every room gets cleaned starting with pick-up, then dusted and vaccumed. Then the kitchen and bathroom get deep cleaned. The outside too, would need picking up and sweeping - we live on a farm and farm "stuff" gets dumped on my car port constantly. I live with 3 people who have no ability to put something away when they're done with it. We are also, just so busy with farm work and activities that we are often running into the house from one thing, dumping what we've got and running out for another thing. That makes the entry way a disaster most of the time.

 

Believe it or not, I voted "most of the day" and my house is only 1000 sqft. I can't even imagine how those who have bigger homes say they can vacuum the living room, mop the kitchen floor and clean the bathroom in about an hour???? It takes me more then an hour just to pick up my house to the point where I CAN vacuum and mop! Don't even get me started on the kids rooms. UGH! The truth is, we have too much stuff in too little space and there isn't a "place for everything" because there simply isn't a place, so things stay pretty messy a lot of the time. I am working on it though!

 

I do have friends and family who drop by and come in no matter what - mess and all. But if I have invited you - my house is going to be spotless and it is going to take me all day to get it that way.

[6packofun]

Yep. At the very least, it's 3-4 hours spread over a couple of days because 1) I don't like sudden company and anyone who knows me knows this! And 2) I don't have 3-4 hours in a day to devote to housecleaning and I refuse to live my life that way. LOL

[Tammyla]

My kids are older and we are ready in no time now. When I had little people, I needed time to clear the toys, vacuum, tidy and fret over what wasn't cleaned.

 

Now, I just open the door unless the guest(s) are overnight ones. I'd need to switch the sheets and transform the exercise room back into the guest room. I'd also do a deep cleaning in the bathroom, put out fresh towels and designate it as theirs.

[AuntieM]

just need the main level all nice and shiny. I have this thing about when I invite people to eat in my house -- I want them to see an uber-clean kitchen. (Have you ever been invited to someone's house to dinner, only to see a filthy, filthy kitchen? Does a little number on one's appetite...)

 

Now if you were talking about overnight guests that would be all over my home, or guests with kids that were going to go down in the basement family room, that would take a longer spiff-up time.

[Sarah CB]

I said less than an hour because if we've just eaten, the kitchen might not be cleaned up. Otherwise, 15 minutes.

 

This is us, too. We have some morning routines in place which ensure that the bedrooms are clean and picked up and the bathrooms are also clean and tidy first thing each morning. The only one that is hit and miss is the 6 and 3 year old's bedroom - they share a room and feel that cleaning it is a form of torture. I went in there about a week ago and cleaned and so far they've been able to keep it picked up but it won't last long.

 

I am comfortable with some messes. The main floor and the bedrooms are usually kept clean and tidy, but the downstairs is the homeschool room and the rec room. Right now the homeschool room is in good shape except for a pile of books on the table that need to be put away. The rec room has a big game of Playmobil set up all across the floor. But, I wouldn't ask them to put that away even if company was coming :)

 

However, my laundry room is rarely (if ever) presentable and my drawers and closets are not pretty.